Zrcadlení melancholie

If you're going to write a twenty-three minute long metal song, what you're supposed to do is make it dynamic piece that flows decently, has well placed transitions, and doesn't get monotonous. What you're not supposed to do is do what Trist does here on "Poslední cesta", the first of two tracks on the project's final album Zrcadlení melancholie. I know there's two songs here, but when you're talking about the album overall, you have to realize that roughly two-thirds of the music is this track. Trist have been a semi-competent band from what I've explored from them in the past, but this album - despite how hyped it is - is just a colossal bore.

I thought that Trist's biggest weakness was their stubborn refusal to change up drum beats or a song's tempo. "Poslední cesta" just validates that skepticism. I can't imagine how Trist's eponymous frontman talked his drummer into doing twenty-three minutes of the same beat. Theoretically, he could've only done about three minutes and just loop it. But as for the guitars, there's only about four or five riffs found throughout this song which begs the question as to why it needed to be dragged on for as long as it did. This song has no business being as long as it is. It should have been half as long if not cut even more and it would've been much more interesting. Meanwhile, the vocals are scarce, but when they are used they're not reciting lyrics. Instead, Trist is doing his best to imitate what an auto mechanic's drill sounds like (and even failing at that).

As for "Trnový labyrint", it is much more interesting of the two tracks and does have one rather interesting melodic lead on its main riff. But again, the monotony just makes this a chore to listen to. Hell, the drum beat is basically the same here as it is on the first song so I wouldn't be surprised if he just looped the drums on the whole album. The only possible way you can get away with this static approach to the song's rhythm is if you can develop some sort of foreboding or brooding atmosphere as a result, and that doesn't happen on this album.

Zrcadlení melancholie is a boring album and a pretty embarrassing example of what depressive black metal is: dull, whiny, and bedroom produced. That said, there's a few depressive black metal albums that have managed to be interesting such as Forgotten Woods' first two albums, Shining's V - Halmstad, or Gris' Il était une forêt.... Go listen to those instead.

Depressive suicidal black metal. This sub-genre of black metal surely has created some polarizing opinions within the black metal community. Trist was a DSBM band from the Czech Republic and especially because of this album, remains one of the most influential bands in the genre's history. It really is a shame that this project is no longer around, but I guess all good things must come to an eventual and inevitable end. This music certainly is not for everyone, but it's no denying that this album is certainly one of the greatest DSBM albums ever created and captures the depressing atmosphere of the music perfectly. Now, let us cut into this beast and discover what's so damn great about it.

"Zrcadlení melancholie" is made up of only two songs that are both fairly long. The first song "Poslední cesta" is a 23-minute mammoth and the second track "Trnový labyrint" is notably shorter, but still eclipses 14 minutes in length. These long songs are both insanely repetitive and focus on using only a few riffs throughout their insanely long run times. "Poslední cesta" is probably my favorite of the two, as it contains some of the most melodic riffing on the entire album. The guitars are extremely sad and depressing which is obviously to be expected. The repetition throughout these 37 minutes really helps create a hypnotic atmosphere that could definitely alter one's mood. Even if you go into this album feeling happy, you can certainly walk away from it feeling hopeless, lost, and utterly depressed. That's the main goal for DSBM and a lot of it can be quite effective. This album is no exception. For me, the music doesn't usually drag me down into depression. I listen to this stuff while just sitting around in my room relaxing after a hard day at work. But at the same time, if I am already depressed and throw this album on, it surely can match my mood and even influence it further. While the first track is my favorite of the two, "Trnový labyrint" is definitely an extremely good song. It's very much more funeral doom influenced, especially with the slow, melodic intro riff. It does pick up a bit, but in terms of overall pace, it's slightly slower.

The production on this album is absolutely perfect. It's raw and dirty, which for DSBM, is almost an essential element. The instruments are all clear, with the fuzzy guitars being the most prominent. The drums are provided on an actual drum kit as opposed to a drum machine, and we can even hear a bit of bass, especially on the second track. The vocals are very prevalent and full of pain and hopelessness. I often wonder to myself if Trist was cutting himself when he was recording these vocals because the album definitely radiates depression, and the cover art fits the music perfectly. I'm not condoning slitting your wrists or self-mutilation or anything of the sort, but if you were going to do such a thing to yourself, this would be an album with which to commit said acts.

DSBM is a genre that has always appealed to me. Not because I get a hard-on from feeling depressed or anything like that, but I do have a historic struggle with depression. This music mainly serves more as a journey into my innermost thoughts and feelings. I absolutely love the repetitive, hypnotic melodies these artists use in their music, and Trist is no exception. If you want some insanely dark, doomy, and depressive black metal, please check this album out. It is highly recommended from me and an absolute classic of DSBM.

This album is insane, that's just all I have to say. It's insane. It borderlines the realness of music and passion without being too overwhelmed into assisting upon itself like it's some divine entity in heavy metal either. Trist is a black metal artist from Czech Republic. His visions on the world are entirely fucked up, his music completely reflects that. Trist generates some of the most blackest and atmospheric songs I think I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. His self-inflicted scars that he has on his arms comes as no surprise either. Going as far to his self-harm even being displayed on the very album cover I'm writing this review for is really all the least you can expect from tortured musician such as himself.

The album also contains very aggressive quotes signaling the trauma he seemed to have been experiencing while creating this record. The sentence "SELF-DESTRUCTIVE ELITE FROM THE CZECH REPUBLIC" displayed huge in Old English font on the back cover of the CD comes off as some cheesy marketing line. Not sure if that was an idea of his to be included on the album or was a thought from that of the label that distributed the copies, however the line "LIFE IS ABOUT PAIN, DEPRESSION AND REVERIES. NO FUCKING HAPPINESS!!!" included on the inside booklet seems a little more genuine. Let the artwork for this record set the mood for the entire rollercoaster that is Zrcadlení melancholie.

The album is two songs long, yes, just two. Two very long songs. They drag out in such a way to place you into a atmospheric void of what it feels to be miserable and hopeless. This music is not about impressive riffs or showing off how fast you can strum or play your drum kit. These two songs feature the feeling of neglect and loss of hope throughout the years of being alive. I can appreciate musicians such as Trist exist to display that people like this who really do have fucked up, sad lives do exist. I feel as if too many view people who live with depression with a grain of salt to the point where it's passable as being "emo" or some bullshit. Looking through the mind of someone that can evaluate their fucked up life through music that is displayed on a release such as this is some of the purist form of passion that music can amount to. I understand in quality aspects, it's not technical. Too many people view music (metal especially) that it should focus on being technical, diverse and have substantial production.

Black metal has always broken these laws. Relying on low-fi quality records to satisfy the taste of gloomy atmosphere coupled with groaning riffs that invoke the listener into a feeling of grim distraught, it's really no surprise that the "depressive" black metal subgenre would erupt eventually. The only issue I have with this album is well, the first song can drag into itself a little too much. Way too many of the riffs are recycled. That's not a big issue especially considering (as I said above), the whole point of this album and style of music is for the sake of atmosphere. If Trist can deliver what's inside his own head, who am I to judge what sounds come out of his instruments and his voice when creating such art?

Trist would be hard-pressed to ever try to create something comparable to Zrcadlení melancholie ever again as by the sounds of it, must have been written and recorded in one of the darkest times of his life. The album feels like you're trapped inside a forest in the middle of the night. The forest claws onto you, you can't escape and by the end of the record, dawn cracks. The sun rises and you find your way out. The whole emotion for this album is practically stunning.

Depressive black metal is a hit/miss genre for me. As much as the shitty bedroom dribble there is, I sometimes find a ray of hope for the genre with likes like these. Aiming to root its self deep into the listener, inflicting as much pain and suffering as possible while expressing deepest of emotions is the core goal for the genre. I feel that not enough bands are successful at doing this. Most try with 'deep' and meaningful lyrics, 'depressive' song titles, over the top promo pics etc.. Trist doesn't really go for that. Yeah, there's the typical slashed arm artwork which isn't really surprising honestly, but after that everything here is forged from cold melancholic depression.


Starting off on the first track of just two on this release is 'Poslední Cesta' admittedly my favourite track of the two. This is the most sorrowful and touching thing I have heard in depressive black metal. Bruting along at a crushing pace throwing very piercing high pitched riffs. The track is just over 22 minutes long, and not a minute here is forced or pushed onto making it longer. It moves along at a perfect pace. The song has only a small number of riffs, often going on for 3 minutes or more at a time creating fantastic atmosphere.


This is also the best production I have heard in dsbm. The guitars are really fuzzy and piercing and creating a huge wall of sound for the listener to indulge in. I must emphasise the importance of atmosphere here because without the production this release would be nothing. The drums don't do anything special and I'm glad they don't. They do not distract from the main focus, they do not try to impress. They simply are just there to provide the necessary beat for the guitars. Plenty of double bass and crashing cymbals coupled with a almost freezing sound to the cymbals makes it the best I have come across.

Another thing I have to mention: the vocals. Unlike most dsbm where the vocals can be really distracting and unnecessarily whiny, here they are a slow drawn out screech from time to time. The vocalist doesn't drown out the music with his vocals every 10 seconds, instead giving little touches of misery at the utmost important times. It's almost like standing outside of an old beat up house late at night and hearing eerie screams from the basement of it and either being so haunted with fear you have to get the fuck out of there or have a slight interest in what it really is. Trist captivates vocal expression through pain in a unreal way.

Track two only clocks in at 14 and a half minutes. This track is less melodic than the last, not that the first track was very melodic it's just that this one focus's more on the atmosphere than the riffs. The mesmerizing wall of sound returns and almost immediately you hear the vocalist bellow in pain. Same formula applied here as the last, a little slower tempo at times. at 5:18 on the second track is a beautiful riff, slow and cold as hate itself. If only more black metal could captivate the tone and misery in this album then I would have a lot more faith for the genre. The track looms on for another 8 or 9 minutes and comes to a slow stop, wrapping up everything that it set to accomplish. Pure negativity. I will not give this a hundred because I feel some of the riffs in the second song could of been more refined, and some of the drum work particularly the cymbals get a little drowned out. Also, I'm not sure if there is any bass on this album but I can't really hear any. It would of really made the whole thing sound a lot deeper.

If you have ever felt depression, pure depression, or if you just want some really good negative black metal get this.

It is a shame that Trist has decided to stop with this project, but to me he has left a mark in depressive black metal history. With all his past great albums behind this one, I see this one being his greatest work.

This album has 2 long amazing tracks that are filled with negative emotion, and very evoking to the senses in melancholia. It is slow moving album with a down beat tempo.
His guitar work in the album is most notable. At times I can't really tell what he is doing on the guitar, but fuck does it sound amazing. A lot of repetition is present, but it helps build up to an outstanding climax. For instance in the 1st track Poslední Cesta, it is lead up to climax at 9:54 and the emotion here is spectacular and continues through to 11:48. This is a perfect example of feeling overwhelmed. Out of all the depressive black metal bands that I have listened to, Trist is the only one that has really captured my emotion.
His powerful vocals in the album are shrieks and screams of pain, and do blend in with the atmosphere.
The drums in this album are very unique, but may not seem like it at first. The drums keep the overall sound flowing, and are played in an interesting fashion.

The composition as a whole is very capturing and melancholic. For being the last full length album, it is amazing one, although I still think he has more talented expression to release, but not in this project. So if you are a big fan of his writing, he is not done as an individual in music. I think he is going to continue, but with others. Still his project here is going to be remembered for his notable expression in black metal.

Depressive, Burzumish, bleak, suicidal. You might as well say, many bands are depressive, bleak, suicidal. Hell no! This is a marvellous piece of work.

This is black metal the way Varg Vikernes started it. Sorrowful and painful, without cheesy fag-gothic keyboards or female vocals. With a guitar, a bass and a drumkit, Trist manages to create a crushing atmosphere, with great inspiration and painful Burzum-like vocals/guitars/drumming. It seems to me that Trist got the musical message that Varg delivered, and they keep the fire burning, without being a ridiculous rip-off band.

As you may have noticed, there are just two songs in "Zrcadlení melancholie", about 15' average duration. They are either mid-tempo or slow (but not too slow). And they are certainly NOT for headbanging. The duration may be a turn-off for some people, but I bet they'll change their mind once they listen to this release.

For all you people who miss Varg's masterpieces and/or seek truly sorrowful and suicidal black metal, you got to get this album, even if this is the last thing you do (considering the music style though, this may actually be the last thing you'll do). This album must be played with the lights turned off...but try not to kill yourself ! It can be very soul-affecting and smile-erasing.

Trist is a perfect blend of black and doom metal, the music has the harshness of black metal and the depressive and gloomy feeling of doom metal. The vocals are harsh, they’ve way more power than the vocals of Nortt but it’ll not be fair to compare Trist with Nortt because Nortt’s music is as slow as hell while on this album Trist’s sound is very interesting, the type of music that grows on you, the vocals are harsh enough that they can be used in a black metal band but they reflect grief & pain which adds the whole meaning to the music. This is Trist's best album so far.

There’re only two songs in this album with playing time over 38 minutes, both of these songs are a delight, it is such an album that’ll have different effects on different people depending on their mood and nature. These songs have the ability to make someone relax and happy while it can make others weep and depressed, this is beautiful music. The music dominates the song and vocals are very few but they’re full of impact. These song are a perfect blend of keyboards, guitars, bass and rhythmic drumming, keyboards are most prominent in these songs as they’re creating the atmosphere rather than the guitars or drums like in traditional black metal. Drums are very catchy and are a delight to listen because they’re perfectly supporting the whole mood that is being created by the keyboards while the bass is playing its role and is adding a great deal to the sound, the guitars however are not that much prominent but it does not affect the music here as they’re playing their part in the backgrounds and giving the music the epic feeling.

Both songs are very enjoyable, once you start listening to this album you’ll be transferred to another planet of solitude. This album is amazing and is must for black and doom or funeral doom metal fans.

Its a crying shame Trist has decided to put the bands status as being on hold as the band itself were beginning to churn out fantastic full-length after fantastic full-length. Trist was heading in a direction that i was quite prepared to go. Correction, Trist was grabbing me full force by the throat and dragging me in that direction with their awe-inspiring melancholic tones and mood swings.


Zrcadlení Melancholie marks a change in Trist for me. Poslední Cesta is especially the most notable turning point in Trist's short career. Its 22 minutes of sheer bliss if you happen to like music that depicts pain and serves up connotations of a dark despair fighting through the core of one's soul to escape in order to release the anguish one faces during one's lifetime. Considering the fact that the band is on hold now, it seems rather ironic to me that Zrcadlení Melancholie marks a point where something seems to be achieved with Trist. In the past, each album has ended on a sad reflective not. To me anyway, Zrcadlení Melancholie is slightly more resolving. When it comes to an end I feel as if that is it. I am completely fulfilled by its melancholic riffs, its repetitive drumming that stirs emotions of a repetitive sadness, but one major difference is the vocals. They appear to have more edge, more fight and more will to conquer both sadness and the listener. They're simply intoxicating and entrancing. As i've said on a previous review for another Trist album, both drums and riffs are used in a catchy manner. To me, they almost seem uplifting. As aforementioned, they inspire to conquer grief and sadness.

Thats what makes Trist so special. Its complex moods and tones. They have an unmistakable ability to drive the music on and as they ebb and flow through the realms of misery they are able to take the listener along for the ride, which makes it all the more special. The one thing I cannot stand on underground black metal bands releases if the feedback from the guitars. Its obviously going to be heavily distorted, but is there any need to damage my ears in the process? I think not. Other than that aspect, I am more than satisfied with this full-length. It offers everything you'd like to hear in a record of this description ... Emotive atmosphere, bleak vocals which depict the lyrical themes as lyrics are rarely ever decipherable and a raw edge which sets it apart from its opponents. Trist have shown that they are not a 'one trick pony'. They never become generic. They are never too forceful, but forceful enough in portraying the feelings behind the music. Trnový Labyrint, although very good, is the weaker of the two songs. Simply because its like previous material Trist have written, unlike Poslední Cesta, which differs completely because of its more uplifting tones. Though, in calling it the weaker of the two, its not very weak at all. The same concepts apply. Its cold, bleak and down right depressing. Every instrument, aside from bass perhaps, is used to portray the emotion behind the music. Putting theory into practise if you will.

To put it plain and simply, you must hear this record if you have any sense or knowledge over what is good and what is bad with today's underground depressive/suicidal black metal scene.